The Genesis Collection

The debut collection from Jerry Lester Studios — Spring Summer 2025 Titled ‘Genesis’. The word Genesis means the origin or mode of formation of something. It’s the first book in the Bible. It quite literally is the beginning. I decided to use this term for my first collection because it holds a lot of weight, and because I wanted others to understand that this is not just a hobby, it is the start of something big. As I write this, I am still working a 9-5 job as a chemical engineer, but in time, design with Jerry Lester Studios is what I want to do for the rest of my life. With that being said, part of this collection was inspired by ideas that I have had for some time now, but never came to fruition. The boots came about because of my want for a ‘perfect’ black boot. The tracksuit was something that I had always wanted to make, but I never had that ‘uniqueness’ to it, until I moved into my apartment and the final pieces of inspiration clicked. Other parts of the collection were inspired by my day to day work as an engineer in the field. In 2024, I worked as a project engineer building a nitrogen generator plant from scratch. This exposed me to so many realms of engineering that I took with me into the brand —- the sunglasses, the welding cap, etc. Then comes the Pacific Northwest. There’s very clear inspiration in many pieces from the northwest, a lot of which draw to the nature of the area. Being from the east coast and moving to Oregon, I was exposed to nature I had never seen before. The sweater, the mountain stack pants, and even the grayness in the track suit all pay homage to Oregon. Finally, some of my own personal experiences growing up in the Philly suburbs gave way to other pieces of the collection to round it out — the ringer tee, the crucifix tie, etc. All of these ideas I pieced together to make the collection as well rounded as possible. All in all, although some pieces may not be relatable to others, Genesis served as a personal collection to show others what inspired me and to show what I am capable of making. If you can relate to it, more power to you, and if you can’t, well I at least hope it can give you inspiration to begin something yourself. Don’t you think it’s time?